A lot of things happened in the capital during these three years, and there were exciting events both inside and outside the court.
In the court, there have been very few emperors who lived long lives since ancient times. As Emperor Jingxi grew older and was about to pass the forty-year mark and approach fifty, officials almost requested the establishment of a crown prince every day.
Emperor Jingxi had nine princes, and there were many factions in the court. All officials supported their own princes. Among them, the most officials supported the seventh prince, followed by the second prince.
Three years ago, there were voices in the court calling for the establishment of a crown prince, but the most popular vote at that time was for the second prince.
The second prince's biological mother was Concubine Yin De, a concubine in Emperor Jingxi's private residence. His father was Taifu Yin, a man with many students all over the world. With the influence of Taifu Yin, the second prince naturally had countless supporters.
The eldest prince was born with a foot disease and had no hope of becoming the emperor. The second prince was the first person to inherit the throne. As the old saying goes, the eldest legitimate son should be appointed as the heir. As a result, the second prince had many invisible supporters.
Although the Seventh Prince's biological mother at that time was Concubine Yun Shufei and he had a grandfather who held military power in the northwest and was well-known among military commanders, his biggest shortcoming was that he was weak and sickly.
Being an emperor is not an easy job. The seventh prince is much smarter than the Grand Tutor, but his body that is easily blown by the wind makes it hard to believe that he can work hard to handle official affairs after ascending the throne.
Therefore, even if the military generals were willing to give face to the Marquis of Zhenbei, after knowing the Seventh Prince's physical condition, they would not force themselves to push a prince who might not even leave offspring to the throne.
This situation did not change until two years ago when the elusive Doctor Jiang appeared in the capital.
Concubine Yun Shu, Emperor Jingxi and Divine Doctor Jiang were old acquaintances, having known each other for more than ten years. When they heard that Divine Doctor Jiang had come to the capital, they immediately invited Divine Doctor Jiang to the palace to treat the Seventh Prince.
Doctor Jiang is worthy of being the number one doctor in Daxia. If he doesn't take action, it's fine. But when he does, he makes a big splash. In just one year, he cured the seventh prince and made him a normal person. He no longer had to get sick at the slightest touch of the wind.
Concubine Yun Shu only has one son, the Seventh Prince, and Marquis Zhenbei only has one grandson, the Seventh Prince. Of course, the two of them will fully support their own people.
As soon as the seventh prince recovered, a large number of officials suddenly emerged in the court to support the seventh prince as the crown prince, and for a time, they suppressed the voices of the second prince's party.
The Second Prince’s party was certainly unwilling to be inferior to the Seventh Prince’s party in momentum.
The second prince is the eldest son, and his mother is of noble birth, so he is the best candidate for the crown prince. What is the seventh prince when he has several older brothers?
In order to turn the tables, officials from the Second Prince's party are recruiting people everywhere, determined to overwhelm the Seventh Prince's faction with their momentum.
The Seventh Prince's faction would definitely not allow this to happen, and they formed cliques everywhere. For a time, the court was filled with the voices of these two factions.
When the officials who supported other princes saw this, they realized that this was not acceptable and that the prince they favored was the best candidate, so they all jumped out to recommend the prince.
Except for the Ninth and Tenth Princes, who were too young to tell whether they were good or bad, the other princes each had their own supporters, but the number of supporters varied.
The officials were arguing with each other, and at its busiest, the court was as lively as a vegetable market. The noise was so intense that Emperor Jingxi didn't even want to go to court.
But appointing a crown prince was indeed a big problem, and Emperor Jingxi was also hesitating which son to appoint as crown prince.
It was at this time that the imperial examination cheating case, which had been hastily closed a few years ago and only dealt with a few officials, was revealed to have other hidden secrets.
Emperor Jingxi was troubled by the noise made by the officials, so he sent the Jinyiwei and the royal secret guards to investigate the case thoroughly.
After an in-depth investigation, Emperor Jingxi was shocked to discover that this was a major case that had been buried for nearly ten years. There were many participants, which was why the cheating in the imperial examination was kept secret.
In the past ten years, countless people have passed the imperial examinations without deserving of their titles, and they were able to pass only because they replaced other people's places.
The test papers of the top few candidates in the imperial examination will be made public after the examination. Such candidates cannot be replaced by others, while the rest of the candidates can be obtained through power and money.
From the county examination to the metropolitan examination, replacing one's place in the exam happened everywhere, but those in the palace examination did not dare to act recklessly.
Emperor Jingxi was furious and ordered a thorough investigation, with all officials involved in the case being severely punished.
In this case, the most important official implicated was undoubtedly Yin Taifu, who also served as the Minister of Personnel.
There is evidence that this widespread imperial examination cheating case was led by Taifu Yin. When the matter was brought to the court, Taifu Yin glared wildly and refused to admit that he had done such a thing. He said it was all a false accusation by others.
Taifu Yin said that he was extremely talented and had many students all over the world, so there was no need for him to cheat in the imperial examination. Those who were against him wished that he would never be able to stand up again, and they didn't care what the truth was, as long as they could kill him.
Naturally, Master Yin refused to admit his mistake and fought with the man for hundreds of rounds until his voice became hoarse.
There was indeed evidence, and even Emperor Jingxi, who had always trusted Tutor Yin, had to believe that his beloved minister had betrayed his trust.
When Emperor Jingxi was about to order the punishment of Grand Tutor Yin, it was no exaggeration to say that Grand Tutor Yin's students were all over the world. Even if some people were afraid of trouble and wanted to stay away from him, there were still many people in the court who spoke up to plead for him.
Master Yin also realized that his numerous crimes could not be washed away. He instantly aged ten years and took out the ancestral golden medal of immunity from death to protect the family inheritance.
Emperor Jingxi also softened his heart when he thought of the hard work that Master Yin had put in in the past.
The final verdict was that the entire Yin family would be exiled to the northwest, and three generations of the family would not be allowed to take the imperial examinations.
With the departure of Grand Tutor Yin, the Second Prince's party lost its top power, and many of its backbone forces were killed in the imperial examination cheating case. The Second Prince's party was now skinny and its voice had become several times smaller.
Fortunately, the imperial examination cheating case involved a wide range of people, and Emperor Jingxi was furious. No one dared to be so foolish as to mention the issue of appointing a crown prince, and for the time being, no one took advantage of the second prince's party.
But it is a fact that the Second Prince's party is declining. In addition, Taifu Yin is the Second Prince's grandfather. Whenever Emperor Jingxi sees the Second Prince, he thinks of Taifu Yin, and it is inevitable that his feelings towards the Second Prince have faded a little.
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